Olympic Gold Medalist and two-time former WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO heavyweight champion Anthony ‘AJ’ Joshua stopped EBU Euro Union champion Otto Wallin after five rounds on Saturday night at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
In the co-feature, former WBC heavyweight champion and current No. 1 WBC and WBO ranked Deontay ‘The Bronze Bomber’ Wilder was upset by a wide margin to the former WBO World champ and current WBO Intercontinental champ “King” Joseph Parker for the vacant WBC International title.
In the main event, former Olympic gold medalist and 2-time former WBA, WBO, IBF, and IBO heavyweight champ Anthony ‘AJ’ Joshua, 27-3 (24) stopped EBU Euro Union champ southpaw Otto Wallin, 26-2 (14), after five rounds of a scheduled 12 rounds.
In the first round, Joshua dominated with his jab. In the second round halfway point, Joshua rocked Wallin with a right on the chin, drawing blood from his nose.
In the fourth round, Joshua continued to dominate until a minute remaining when southpaw Wallin landed his best punch up to them, a right hook to the chin of Joshua. At the end of the round, Wallin had a small cut on the bridge of his nose.
In the fifth round, with a minute remaining, Joshua rocked Wallin with a right cross and left hook on the chin, hurting him. The Wallin corner stopped the fight between rounds. The referee was Steve Gray.
In the co-feature returning after a year, the former WBC heavyweight champ Deontay ‘The Bronze Bomber’ Wilder, 43-3-1 (42) was upset in losing by a large decision to the former WBO World champ and current WBO Intercontinental champ “King” Joseph Parker, 34-3 (23) over 12 rounds, for the vacant WBC International title.
In the first three rounds, with little action, Parker chased Wilder around the ring, landing what little was landed. In the fourth round, with twenty seconds remaining, Parker landed a combination to the head of Wilder, knocking his head back.
In the sixth round, Wilder started landing his jab but may have lost the first five rounds. In the seventh round’s last thirty seconds, Parker landed an overhand right on the chin of Wilder, being the best punch of the round. In the seventh round final minute, Parker landed half a dozen unanswered punches having Wilder on the ropes.
In the eighth round, Parker landed more, and in the ninth and tenth, Wilder landed more. In the eleventh round, it was Parker in four rounds of little action.
In the twelfth and final round, Wilder, knowing he needed a knockout, was throwing his rights, but Parker held in there to the bell, believing he won the fight. The referee was Mark Lyson.
The scores were 118-111, 118-110, 120-108, and 117-113 for KH.
WBA Super Light Heavyweight champ Dmitriy Bivol, 22-0 (12) after a year off, easily defeated late sub and IBO Light Heavyweight champ Lyndon ‘King’ Arthur, 23-1 (16) over 12 rounds, scoring the lone knockdown.
In the second round, it was all Bivol having Arthur in trouble during the round. Bivol is in his first fight this year due to a hand injury after being the 2022 Fighter of the Year. In the third round, Arthur used his longer jab, being reluctant to throw the right of the two in a close round.
From the fourth through the seventh rounds, Bivol came back, taking all the rounds and countering an Arthur jab with two of his own, continuing to back Arthur up.
In the eighth round’s final minute, a Bivol left to the body and right to the head hurt Arthur. Seconds later, a right from Arthur to the body put Bivol back several steps.
Bivol ended the round with a combination hurting Arthur. In the ninth and tenth rounds Bivol continued outscoring Arthur.
In the eleventh round, the fans started chanting “Bivol, Bivol” halfway through the round. In the final seconds, a left hook from Bivol to the body dropped Arthur for an 8-count from Referee John Latham as the bell sounded.
In the twelfth and final round, it looked like referee Latham might call a halt with a dozen unanswered punches from Bivol. Arthur came back in the final half-round as the bell ended it.
Scores were all 120-107, as was KH.
Former 2012 Olympian and IBF Cruiser champ and current Ring Magazine champ southpaw Jai Petaia, 24-0 (19) stopped WBO Cruiser champ Ellis Zorro, 17-1 (7) at 2:56 of the first round of a scheduled 12 rounds.
In the first round, after fighting on even terms when in the final seconds, an overhand lead left from Petaia on the chin and down went Zorro on his back with his head landing on the bottom rope. The referee, John Latham, immediately waved it off.
After what must have been an hour, the former WBA Regular Heavyweight champ triple D Daniel ‘Dynamite’ Dubois, 20-2 (19) stopped Jarrell ‘Big Baby’ Miller, 26-1-1 (22) at 2:52 of the tenth and final round.
In the first round, it was all the quicker Dubois, with Miller not landing a punch. In the second round, Dubois controlled until the final seconds when Miller landed his first series of punches, though with some blood from his nose. In the third round, Miller picked up where he left off at the end of the previous round, out-landing Dubois.
In the fourth round, Miller had a good round being the harder puncher. In the fifth round, it was close, with Dubois no longer using his legs, staying in front of Miller, exchanging punches with blood from the mouth of Dubois.
In the sixth and seventh rounds, Dubois moved a bit more, with both landing punches and Miller bleeding from the mouth. In the eighth round, Dubois warned for a low blow from Referee Michael Alexander. Miller, bleeding from the mouth, slowed down to a crawl as Dubois took the round.
In the ninth round, Dubois outlanded Miller and seems to have the lead going into the tenth and final round. In the tenth round, it was all Dubois with little left with Miller as Dubois, in the final minute, drove Miller back into the ropes, landing half a dozen punches before referee Alexander wisely stopped it with Dubois a sure winner going into the final round.
WBA Inter-Continental and IBF Heavyweight champ Arslanbek ‘Lion’ Makhmudov, 18-1 (17), in a major upset, was stopped by EBU Euro champ Agit Kabayel, 24-0 (16) at 2:03 of the fourth round of a scheduled ten rounds.
In the first two rounds Kabayel avoided the big punches of Makhmudov by getting a decent jab in. In the third round, after a minute, Kabayel rocked Makhmudov with a right on the chin. Being the quicker of the two, Kabayel again rocked Makhmudov with a minute remaining.
In the fourth round, after a minute, Kabayel landed a left to the body, dropping Makhmudov for a count of 9 from Referee Steve Gray. In the final minute, a right to the body from Kabayel dropped Makhmudov for an 8-count. In the final seconds, a left hook and right body shot dropped Makhmudov for the final knockdown.
WBC Continental Americas and NABO champ Frank ‘The Cuban Flash’ Sanchez, 24-0 (17), stopped Junior Fa, 20-3 (11) at 2:42 of the seventh round of a scheduled ten rounds, scoring three knockdowns.
In the first two rounds, returning to the ring after two years, Junior Fa and Sanchez split the feeling out rounds. Sanchez took the third and fourth with more punches landing. In the fifth round, Sanchez drew blood from the nose of Fa midway. At the end of the round, Fa threw Sanchez to the canvas.
In the sixth round, Fa landed a solid right on the chin after a minute. In the final seconds, Sanchez landed a right on the chin, dropping Fa for an 8-count from Referee Kevin Parker.
In the seventh round, after a minute, Sanchez dropped Fa with a right for another 8-count. In the final seconds, a combination from Sanchez dropped Fa, who beat the count, but referee Parker wisely waved it off.
Heavyweight Olympic Bronze Medalist and IBF No. 1 ranked Filip ’El Animal’ Hrgovic, 17-0 (14) stopped Mark ‘The Viking’ De Mori, 41-3-2 (36) at 1:46 of the first round of a scheduled ten rounds.
In the first round, after a minute, Hrgovic dropped the 41-year-old De Mori with a right on the chin for an 8-count from Referee Mark Lyson. De Mori got up, throwing punches.
Hrgovic hurt De Mori with several punches with one behind the head getting a warning. He continued landing punches with an overhand right to the head when the towel came in from the corner.
“The ring announcer was Thomas Treiber and Michael Buffer.
